Cong (Ts'ung) Prismatic Cylinder and Bi disc, Qijia Culture, Late Neolithic Period (2100-1600 BCE), jade

Round Heaven | Square Earth: Ancient Chinese Jade, TAI Modern
October 28-December 21, 2022
Opening reception: Friday, October 28, 5-7pm

Chinese cosmology views the world in geometric terms. The Earth was square shaped and the Heavens round. As far back as the Neolithic period (10,000 – 2,000 BCE), Chinese artisans have used these shapes to symbolize their universe, which is most apparent when viewing the jade objects on display in Round Heaven | Square Earth: Ancient Chinese Jade.

The Neolithic Period witnessed stone workers carving jade into beautifully polished objects with possible ritual, symbolic or astronomical functions. As jade is both very tough and harder than steel, it is very durable but difficult to shape and carve. As the Smithsonian’s Freer-Sackler Museum of Asian Art describes it, “Working jade is an extremely laborious process that involves both slicing and removing unwanted stone with powdered abrasive minerals.”

This exhibition primarily highlights two distinct types of ritual jade objects: Bi (pronounced Bee), a thin disc with a hole in the center, and Cong (Tsung), a cylindrical tube encased in a square prism. They clearly had great significance, but despite many theories, the purpose of Bi and Cong remain a mystery.

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Hodaka Yoshida (1926-1995), One More Scene: Stonehouses, Tomo (Mouhitotsu no fukei: kura, tomo), 1988, 16 7/8 x 24 3/8 in. (43 x 61.8 cm.)

Hodaka Yoshida (1926-1995) & Yoshida Family Abstracts, Scholten Japanese Art
Featured at the 2022 IFPDA Print Fair New York
October 27-30, 2022

Scholten Japanese Art is pleased to announce their participation in the upcoming International Fine Print Dealers Association Print Fair opening on October 27th at the Javits Center in New York with a special presentation of works by the 20th century print artist, Hodaka Yoshida (1926-1995), accompanied by a selection of complimentary abstract prints by members of his extraordinarily talented family, including his wife, Chizuko Yoshida (1924-2017), his brother, Toshi Yoshida (1911-1995), and his mother, Fujio Yoshida (1887-1987). The entire collection is available in an Online Exhibition.

You are invited to join Scholten at their booth (#107) on Saturday October 29, at 3pm, for an informal talk given by Ayomi Yoshida, the daughter of Hodaka and Chizuko Yoshida. An internationally recognized print artist, Ayomi is traveling from Japan to be here just for the Print Fair exhibition. She will be speaking about Hodaka’s life and printmaking process and answering questions about her family of artists.

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L-R: Oshiyama Motoko (born 1957), Kakuhanmon Vase “Shunen” (Spring Festival), 2022, silver, brass, shakudo, and copper, H. 15 5/8 x W. 5 3/4 x Dia. 2 3/8 in. (39.7 x 14.5 x 8.5 cm), Onishi Gallery and Ogawa Machiko (born 1946), Akai utsuwa, “Red Vessel”, 2021, unglazed porcelain and stoneware with iron-oxide glaze, 16 x 13 3/4 in., Joan B Mirviss LTD

RED EARTH: New Work by Ogawa Machiko, Joan B Mirviss LTD
Concludes October 28, 2022

Ogawa Machiko is one of the most celebrated ceramic artists today, male or female. She won the Japan Ceramics Society Award in 2000 and their Gold Prize in 2018—one of only three women to be so honored by this prestigious institution. Evoking the geological cycles that have long informed her works, RED EARTH brings this venerated artist full circle to her origins. Her latest solo exhibition at Joan B Mirviss LTD is inspired by the Japanese concept of the vessel, utsuwa, as well as by the unique red-colored earth of Burkina Faso, West Africa, where she lived as a young woman for several years.

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Heated Colors, Hammered Forms: Female Metal Artists of Japan, Onishi Gallery
Concludes October 29, 2022

Onishi Gallery is proud to feature the best of Japanese metalwork and represents many of its leading contemporary practitioners, including nine who have been designated Living National Treasures. Our September exhibition, Heated Colors, Hammered Forms: Female Metal Artists of Japan, turns the spotlight on the contribution made by women to the revival of this demanding art form, highlighting four female artists who are distinct in their personal modes of expression, but united in their embrace and adaptation of traditional methods.

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Artist Talk : Tuesday, October 25, 2022 5pm EDT
The Share for Those Who Remain, Korea Society

In his paintings Young Min Moon depicts Jesa, a Confucian ritual for commemoration of the deceased, which was one of the earliest memories he holds while growing up in the military regime of South Korea in the 1970s and 80s. Despite the gender politics now associated with the ritual today due to its patriarchal nature, Moon insists on exploring the legacy. For him, the ritual holds multiple layers of meanings: an occasion of silence utterly severed from the violent era of his childhood, a means of remembering the deceased, and a tradition that may be discontinued in the age of globalization.

Moon's paintings are also a way of honoring women’s labor for the patriarchal tradition, and an invitation to the celebration of familial ties that are largely inaccessible for diasporic Koreans. In his solo exhibition at The Korea Society, which is on view through December 9, Moon also complicates his relation to the legacy of Jesa by situating it in relation to Catholicism that impacted the Confucian tradition in Korea.

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Hokusai (1760 – 1849), The Falling Mist Waterfall at Mt Kurokami, Shimotsuke Province, 1832,
woodblock print, 15 x 10.25 in. (38.10 x 26.04 cm.)

Doug Frazer and Richard Waldman of The Art of Japan have been hard at work hunting for and finding, beautiful and interesting images. These 107 images are now added to their New Acquisitions, which may be their finest grouping in 35 years. From Hokusai to Hiroaki and from Sumo to Surimono, there is something for everyone who loves Japanese prints. Particularly notable is this very fine impression of Hokusai's waterfall design, The Falling Mist Waterfall at Mt Kurokami, Shimotsuke Province, from 1832. This impression, on a nearly full sheet, is comparable to the best impressions found in any museum collection. Hiroaki's 1931 Awabi Diver is lavishly printed with Mica background in double oban format and has a red key block that warms and accentuates the model's form. Of special interest is a group of seven exquisitely printed designs from Kunisada's painfully rare 1823 series of ten prints, Mirrors of the Modern Boudoir, which depicts beautiful women at their ablutions within their private quarters. For Sumo fans, they have assembled seven Katsukawa school designs that are full of character and in remarkably fine condition. One of their favorite designs of the collection is a delightful depiction of Onoe Kikugoro V as the Balloonist Spencer, by Kunisada III, a vertical diptych showing an actor as Spencer suspended from a balloon.

To see these and more exceptional prints, click here.

A Fine Black-Lacquer Suit of Armor with a Bamen Kabuto, Edo period (1615-1868), 17th/18th century,
Lot 40, Estimate: $45,000-55,000

Arts of the Samurai, Bonhams New York
In-person auction, October 26, 2022, starting at 10am

The warriors of old Japan are taking over Bonhams with the fifth installment of Arts of the Samurai. Comprising 196 lots of swords, sword fittings, helmets, and armor, this sale puts on full display the precision of craft and genius of design that places the military equipment of Japanese warriors in a category all their own.

Highlights include a mid-11th century tachi (long sword) by Masazane, who hailed from Bizen, an area with a rich tradition of swordsmithing. Perhaps most impressive is the variety of helmets and armor. The colorful lacing, and rows of black or gold-lacquered scales surmounted by iron helmets and fierce masks will stir the imagination of enthusiasts of all ages.

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Art for Breakfast with Hayaki Nishigaki: Extraordinary Odyssey —
My Work Exposed!, Asia Society Japan
Online and in person talk, October 26, 2022, 8am Tokyo time/6pm October 25 EDT

Asia Society Japan met artist, Hayaki Nishigaki back in 2020 at his studio, Haidenban, in Kyoto. He is a graduate of Kyoto University of Art and Design who studied under Professor Noboru Tsubaki. His works have made an evolution during the pandemic. His works are created using sumi ink on Japanese paper in the very traditional Japanese painting methods that tell a story. His motif is the ever-famous Japanese monster, Godzilla, which he uses as a vessel for his artistry, telling a story within his paintings.

He will join Art for Breakfast in October to present his works and tell us about his journey. Why does he continue to use sumi ink and Godzilla within his artworks? How has the pandemic affected him and his works? Will there be new motifs? What is he trying to communicate to the world? With the experience of his artist-in-residency in Qatar this year, Hayaki Nishigaki will unravel himself about his works and his new experiences.

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Kamiya Kokei (1904-active 1941), Girl and Parrot, 1927, hanging scroll, ink, mineral pigments, and crushed shell on silk, 96 x 47¾ in. Courtesy of Erik Thomsen

Now is the time to make plans to come to New York for Asia Week New York 2023—March 16-24! You will once again have the chance to see a vast array of amazing Asian art. Not only will our member galleries feature spectacular works, but the auction houses will offer landmark collections. You can enjoy receptions, open houses, lectures, and other related events. Local museums will be holding great exhibitions.

Madison Avenue Fall Gallery Walk
Saturday, October 22

This free event invites the public to visit participating galleries, view their fall exhibitions, and attend expert talks led by artists and curators on Madison Avenue & side streets from East 57 to East 86 St.

Community Event at Frick Madison – The temporary home of The Frick Collection, 945 Madison Avenue (74-75) (1pm-3pm)
The Frick invites you to sketch with us outdoors, in front of the museum on Madison Avenue at 75th Street. Drawing easels will be available on a first-come, first-served basis (weather permitting). This event is free; all materials will be provided, and no art background is needed. Tickets are required for museum entry.

Participating AWNY members:

DAG
41 East 57 Street, Suite 708 (Madison-Park) (11am-6pm)
This exhibition explores modernism in 20th century India – the selection presents vernaculars of abstraction and figuration that developed concurrently across art centers in India. Gallery Talk: 12pm & 4pm: Director’s talk – a brief introduction to Indian modern art accompanied by a gallery walkthrough.

Ippodo Gallery
32 East 67 Street (Madison-Park) (10am-6pm)
Susumu Shingu: Sculpting with Wind. Showcasing renowned kinetic sculptor Susumu Shingu’s latest work created specifically for New York including drawings, interior sculptures, and colorful abstract paintings.
Gallery Talk: 2pm, join us for a Gallery Talk with artist Susumu Shingu and Ippodo Gallery New York director Shoko Aono.

Kapoor Galleries
34 East 67 Street, Floor 3 (Madison-Park) (11am-6pm)
Bringing together some of the most rare and exquisite pieces of sculpture from India, Nepal, Tibet and ancient Gandhara, Divine Gestures: Channels of Enlightenment lies at the intersection of religious iconography and fine craftsmanship. This exhibit is an ode to the iconographic elements of a sculpture that bridge the tangible and intangible realms of art. Proof of Covid-19 vaccination required for admission.
Gallery Talks: 1pm & 3pm, join Sanjay Kapoor as he leads you through a brief tour of our exhibition.

Thomsen Gallery
9 East 63 Street (Madison-Fifth) (11am-6pm)
Japanese Lacquer Sculptures by Nobuyuki Tanaka and Porcelain Sculptures by Sueharu Fukami.
Gallery Talks: 11am, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm : We will discuss the techniques and materials used by the two renowned Japanese artists to make their large sculptures.

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Court Art of the Islamic and Indian World, Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd.
October 20-28, 2022
Open daily 10am-5pm
Weekend opening 11am-5pm

ONE OF FOUR KNOWN SAFAVID FIGURAL VEVET PANELS
A large Safavid silk velvet panel (detail), Persia, 1600-25 A.D., 165 x 31 cm. (65 x 12 ¼ in.)

For more highlights from the exhibition, click here
To view the exhibition catalogue, available online, click here